Combination-lock



A. I. BRA UN AND H. G. HOFFMAN.

COMBINATION LOCK.

APPLICATION FILED MAY II, 1920..

1,366,868. Patented Jan. 25,1921.

2 SHEETS-SNEET I F WW Q DQ Inventors. jI 72dre21/tZ Braum S 1" A @51 lzerman G Hoffman.

UNITED ISTATESIPATENT OFFICE.

ANDREW J. BRAUN AND Gr. HOFFMAN, OF ATCHISON, KANSAS.

COMBINATION-LOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 25, 1921 Application filed May 11, was. Serial No. 380,451.

1' '0 all whom it may concern Be it known that we, ANDREW J. BRAUN and HERMAN G. HOFFMAN, citizens of the United States, residing at Atchison, in the county of Atchison, State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Combination-Locks; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

This invention relates to locks, and more especially to those adapted for application to a valve; and the object of the same is to control theoperation of a valve in a gasolene supply pipe to the engine of a motor vehicle by means of a permutation lock.

The lock is operated by a dial and knob mounted on the dash, and when the tumblers have been properly set a button on the dash may be turned to open the valve and permit the gasolene to flow. When the driver leaves his car he has but to turn the button to close the valve and then spin the knob to lock the valve closed, and an unauthorized person not knowing the combination will therefore find it impossible to set the lock so as to again open the valve and supply gasolene to run the engine. One feature of the invention consists in mounting the structure within a casing which is automatically locked from the inside by the turning of the shaft which closes the valve, whereby it will be impossible for an unauthorized person to gain entrance to the casing, and in fact, the owner cannot do so without first unlocking the structure. 7

Details are set forth below and shown in the drawings wherein: 1,

Figure 1 is a vertical section through this device, showing in outline its connection with the tank and engine, and the mounting of its controls on the dash. This View shows the key in dotted lines in its unlocked posi tion.

Fig. 2 is a plan view partly in horizontal section, with the upper part of the casing removed.

Fig. 3 shows a front elevation and aside elevation of one of the cams, and Fig. 4 shows a front alrvatmn and aside elevatlon of one of the tumblers.

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-501 Fig. 1, showing how the top of the casing is engaged with the lower part thereof.

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6-6 ofFig.

1 showing how the top of the casing is hooked to the lower part when the valve is closed. n

F 1g. 7 is a sectional detail on the line 7--7 ofFig. 5.

1 A gasolene supply pipe 1 leads from a tank indicated at Tin 111g. 1 through a valve V, and fIOlHthlS valve a second pipe 2 leads to the carburetor and engine as indicated at E. On the dash D of the machine is m'ounteda rotary button 13 and a knob K, and their stems are connected through gears 3 and 4;

with a shaft 5 which leads to and operates the valve, and a shaft 6 having a pinion '7 meshing with another pinion 8 on the lock mechanism described below. Said mechaniem and valve are mounted within a casing which by preference is bolted to the engine near the carbureter under the hood, and the shafts which lead to the controls on the dash must usually turn some corners as shown,

because the controls are considerably higher than this device as a whole.

A strong metal casing consists of a lower sob part or base 10 closed at oneend by a disk 11 i and having pins 12 thereon pro ecting inward, and an upper part 13 having internal lugs 14 with perforations to engage said pins. These parts or members of the casing are substantially semi-cylindrical and their other ends are closed as shown at 15 and have registering notches 16 which coact to form bearings for the shafts 5 and 6 referred to, and also these parts have outstanding.

hook engages the lugs 18 so that not even the owner can separate thefparts of the casing without first turning this shaft .a quarter revolution to open thevalve and", as'will be explained, the lock is adapted to prevent such turning of the valve shaft until it has been properly set. I

Suitably supported within the lower part of the casing is a core 20 fixed around the valve shaft 5 and having peripheral grooves in which are mounted tumblers 21, 22, and 23 (and others if desired) the last-named being carried at the mouth of cup 24 whose bottom ineloses the end of the core,loosely surrounds the shaft 5, and carries thepinion 8. The tumbler 21 is shown in Fig. 4 provided with a number of holes 25 into which may be selectively set pins 26 which are threaded for this purpose, and by changing these pins the combination can be changed. The turning of the cup and its tumbler first in one direction and then in the other direction causes its pin to" strike a pin on the next tumbler and the latter has a second pin on the other'side which strikes the pin on the tumbler 21 (and so on if there are more than'three tumblers), and by this means the tumblers are successively ,set until their notches 27 stand in alinement above a key 28iwhich lies in a channel 29 along the top of the core. This is the well known action of a permutation lock as set by the manipulation of its knob, and well understood.

Fast on the valve shaft 5 at opposite ends of the core are cams 30 and 31, the latter being within the cup 24;. As seen in Fig, 3, each cam is a disk notched out at one edge to produce a cam face 32 extending for 90 around the periphery of the disk and having shoulders-33 and 34 at its extremities. The key 28 is long enough to extend through these notches in both cams, and the latter I are set on the shaft 5 in such relation to the valve that when the key lies against the shoulder 33 at the low end of the cam face 32 the valve is closed, but when the shaft is turned for a quarter revolution to move the shoulder 34 against the key, the valve is opened. This movement, however, causes the rise of the key because of the rise of the cam face, and obviously the key can only risewhen the notches 27 in all the tumblers stand directly above it. On the other hand, when the shaft 5 is turned in the other direction to close the valve, the cam faces 32 permit the'key to drop back into the channel '29 and by spinning the knob K the tumblers can be turned to leave the permutation lock closed and locked.

Thus it'will be seen that the motorist whose caris equipped with this device can very quickly turn off the gas valve and lock it closed, and can then leave his car with the assurance that no'one can turn on the gasolene without knowing the combination. Also the rotation ofthe button B which closed the valve turns the double hook 19 into engagement with both lugs 18, so that the parts of the casing are locked against separation until the permutation is again unlockedhence no one can even pry open the casing and get at the valve V. When he returns to his car, he manipulates the knob ii to set the tumblers properly, and then turns the button to open the valve as has been explained. From time to time the screw pins can be changed in the holes 25 in one or more of the tumblers, so as to change the combination, especially when the car passes to the next owner.

It might be stated in conclusion that, although the valve is herein described as inserted in a. gasolene supply line and the controls as mounted on a motor vehicle dash, it is quite obvious that this structure is applicable to valves or similar members in other lines, and it is only necessary that the controls shall be within reach of the operator. This suggestion is particularly applicable to the use of a two-part casing inclosing the valve and lock mechanism, and its parts hooked together by the turning of the valve shaft so as to prevent an unauthorized person from forcibly gaining entrance to the mechanism without first properly setting the lock. When the hook is thrown to a horizontal, the bolts can be removed from the perforated ears and the upper part 13 of the casing lifted at its rear end and then slid back so that its perforated lugs disengage the pins 12.

\Vhat is claimed is:

1. In a valve lock, the combination with a valve and its operating shaft, and a lock mechanism therefor and its operating shaft; of a two-part casing inclosing said valve and mechanism and through which casing said shafts project, lugs in said parts, and a double hook fast on the valve shaft and turned by it to engage said lugs when the shaft is turned to close the valve.

2. In a valve lock, the combination with a valve and its operating shaft, and a lock mechanism therefor and its operating shaft; of aocasing composed of upper and lower semi-cylindrical parts, their inner ends being closed and having registering notches through which said shafts project, these ends also having internal lugs, the opposite end of the lower part being closed by a disk having internal pins and the corresponding end of the upper part having internal pcrforated lugs to engage said pins, and a double hook fast on the valve shaft and turned by it to engage said lugs when the shaft is turned to close the valve.

3. In a valve lock, the combination with the valve, a shaft leading therefrom to a control button, a permutation lock for preventing or permitting the turning of said shaft, and a lock-shaft leading therefrom to its control knob; of a two-part casing inclosing the valve and lock and from which casing said shafts project, means for hooking the parts of the casing together at one end, ears on said parts having registering perforations for fastening bolts, internal lugs near the other ends oi said parts, and a 5 double hook fast on the valve shaft Within the casing and turned into engagement with said lugs when the valve is closed.

4:. In a structure of the class described, the combination with a valve, its control '10 shaft, and a pair of disks fast there-min and each having a 90 peripheral cani with shoulders at its ends; of a permutation lock including a core loose on the shaft between said disks and having a channel, a key loose 15 in said channel and extending over the cam faces, a series of annular tumblers surrounding the cdre and key and each having an internal notch and coacting pins, a cup Whose mouth is attached to one tumbler and Whose bottom loosely surrounds said shaft 20 and carries a pinion, and an operating shaft having a pinion en aging with the pinion of the cup.

In testimony whereof, We aifii; our signatures, in the presence of two Witnesses.

ANDREW d, JtltAUll. HER-MAN G. HUFFMAN. Witnesses:

C. S. TURNER, A. E. DOCK. 

